Selling a Machinery Manufacturing business

Based on hundreds of real buyer-seller diligence conversations we’ve helped happen on Rejigg, these are the shop-floor questions that actually move price and closing odds in machinery manufacturing: … These are the shop-floor questions that actually move price and closing odds in machinery manufacturing: whether job costing matches reality, whether backlog will ship, where capacity is truly constrained, how quality is controlled, and where margin leaks show up.

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What buyers evaluate, and how to prepare

Are your job costs trustworthy, or are they “close enough”?
Deal-critical
Job Costing

What buyers determine

Buyers are validating that your margins hold up at the job level, not just on the financial statements. In a machine shop, one bad assumption about setup hours, cycle time, scrap, or outside processing can turn a “good” customer into a quiet loser. They also listen for whether you learn from misses and update standards or whether quoting depends on one person’s memory.

How to prepare

  • Pull 10 recent quotes that became jobs. Show quoted vs. actual hours, material, outside processing, and scrap/rework
  • Walk through 1–2 jobs end-to-end: quote assumptions, routing steps, inspection points, and what actually happened
  • Separate prototype and first-run work from repeat production so buyers don’t price prototype churn as steady margin
  • Document who updates run rates, setup standards, and burden rates, and how those changes flow into new quotes
Great answer
Here are 10 jobs with quoted vs. actual hours, material, and scrap. On this stainless job, we missed by 18 hours because setup was undercalled and heat treat slipped, so we updated the routing template and added an outside-processing buffer for that part family. Our repeat part numbers stay within a tight variance by work center, and we can show the trend.
Good answer
We track hours and material by job, and we talk through misses, but our standards don’t get updated consistently, and some jobs don’t close cleanly.
Red flag
It’s close enough. We don’t really know why one job makes money and another doesn’t, but it averages out.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg’s secure data room lets you share quote-to-actual backups and job-level support without emailing spreadsheets back and forth.
What’s your backlog, and how much of it is real work vs. “maybe work”?
Deal-critical
Backlog

What buyers determine

Buyers want to see what revenue is tied to real releases, blanket orders with scheduled pulls, or signed build milestones versus forecasts. They are also testing cash and working-capital risk when customers push out. Material gets bought early, work-in-process stacks up, and expedite costs creep in when the schedule whipsaws. A clean backlog story also helps financing move faster because lenders like visibility.

How to prepare

  • Export backlog by ship month. Label each line as release in-hand, blanket order awaiting release, or forecast
  • Show last-moved dates and whether material is already purchased for major backlog items
  • Summarize push-out and cancellation patterns for top customers and how your terms protect you
  • If backlog is thin, show RFQ (Request for Quote) volume, quote hit rate, and how quickly you can load capacity in 60–90 days
Great answer
Here’s backlog by ship month. About $1.4M is firm releases with dates, $600k is blanket POs awaiting pulls, and forecasts are tracked separately. When Customer A pushes out, they own the material after cut per our PO terms, so we don’t get stuck with specialty alloy.
Good answer
We have a backlog report, and we can separate open orders from quotes, but we don’t consistently track push-outs and last-moved dates.
Red flag
Backlog is about $2.5M. It’s a mix of quotes, forecasts, and what we think is coming, but it’ll probably land.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg helps you package backlog proof in the data room and control when buyers see forecasts versus committed releases.
Which machines are doing the real work, and what happens if one goes down?
Deal-critical
Bottlenecks

What buyers determine

Buyers are underwriting throughput and delivery risk, not the size of your equipment list. They want to know which assets actually constrain lead time and which jobs cannot be shifted to other equipment. They also dig into controls support and replacement lead times because an obsolete control can turn a small failure into months of missed shipments.

How to prepare

  • List your top 3–5 constraint assets, what they run, typical utilization, and what work cannot be moved
  • Document downtime history, recent major events, and the real recovery plan if it happens again
  • Write out OEM and service support for key controls and which spare parts you keep on hand
  • Document true backup options: qualified subcontractors who can hold tolerance and their actual lead times
Great answer
Our constraints are the 5-axis cell, the large-bore lathe, and the CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) that gates final inspection. The 5-axis runs 75–85% utilization. We keep a spare spindle, we have a service agreement with 24-hour response, and we can show the last two major downtime events. For overflow, we have two qualified partners for these part families, plus past POs and quality results.
Good answer
We know which machines are tight, and we’ve outsourced in a pinch, but we don’t have a documented plan or clear support details for the controls.
Red flag
If something breaks, we’ll figure it out. The machines are old, but they run great.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg’s data room is a clean place to share constraint-machine notes, maintenance records, and support documentation without dumping everything on day one.
What does inventory actually represent—raw, WIP (Work in Progress), finished, and ‘problem’ jobs?
Deal-critical
WIP & Inventory

What buyers determine

Buyers are checking whether earnings and cash flow are predictable in a shop that has long-lead jobs, outside processing, and month-end cutoffs. If work-in-process is loose, strong months can look stronger than they are, and then ugly surprises show up when jobs finally close. They also want to know if you have a real graveyard: rejected lots, stuck jobs, or slow-moving material that will never ship.

How to prepare

  • Explain how a job moves from quote to traveler to shipment, and how completion is tracked on the floor
  • Break inventory into raw, work-in-process, finished goods, and a labeled “stuck/problem” bucket with a cleanup plan
  • Show how labor and material are booked, and how you capture rework time and split jobs
  • If you use progress billing or percentage-of-completion, document what triggers billing and how you avoid month-end surprises
Great answer
We track raw, WIP, finished, and a small ‘stuck’ bucket. WIP ties to open travelers. Labor is booked daily, and material is issued to jobs, including work sitting at outside processors at month-end. Here’s the stuck list with disposition plans, and the trend over the last two quarters.
Good answer
We can explain what’s on the floor and what’s at vendors, but our WIP reporting isn’t always clean, and some rework time gets coded loosely.
Red flag
Inventory is whatever the accountant says it is. WIP is hard in a job shop, so we don’t really track it.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg gives you a structured data room to share WIP logic, inventory roll-forwards, and stuck-job lists so diligence stays organized.
What quality system do you actually live by day-to-day?
Deal-critical
Quality System

What buyers determine

Buyers want proof that quality is run as a process, not saved by one great inspector. They look for how you prevent escapes, how you handle nonconformances, and whether you can keep approved supplier status after ownership changes. They also pay attention to customer-by-customer requirements because one missed clause on a print or quality note can put a whole program at risk.

How to prepare

  • Gather real artifacts: a first-article packet, calibration log sample, and a nonconformance with corrective action
  • Summarize scrap, rework, and returns for the last 12 months with top causes and what you changed
  • Document how inspection plans are stored and revised, and what you do when prints are ambiguous
  • List customer-specific quality gates and who owns audits, notifications, and deviation approvals
Great answer
Here’s a full first-article package from a recent release, plus calibration logs and our last 12 months of nonconformances by cause. We had one escape in Q2 tied to fixture wear, so we added an in-process check and replaced the fixture. Customer-specific inspection requirements are written down by account and can be followed on any shift.
Good answer
We have a strong inspector, and we do first articles and calibration, but some customer requirements still live in people’s heads.
Red flag
Quality is good. We don’t really track scrap or rework, and we handle issues case-by-case.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg’s data room lets you share quality artifacts with vetted, NDA-signed buyers without opening every customer file upfront.
How dependent are you on outside processing (heat treat, plating, anodize, grinding) and what are the failure modes?
Important
Outside Processing

What buyers determine

Buyers are trying to understand what really drives schedule and scrap when parts leave the building. Having one trusted vendor can be normal, especially for specialty work, but queue times and batch failures can hit delivery fast. They also check traceability and cert discipline because missing paperwork can stop a shipment even when parts are finished.

How to prepare

  • Map typical routings. Highlight where parts leave the building and the queue time you usually see
  • List key processors, lead times, common issues, and how you verify certs match the job
  • Document whether alternates are qualified and what it takes to qualify a second source
  • Summarize vendor-caused late shipments and what you changed afterward
Great answer
About 30% of our revenue touches outside heat treat and plating. We use two qualified heat treaters and one primary plater, and we review queue time weekly. Distortion is our biggest failure mode, so we added machining allowance before heat treat and tightened receiving inspection and cert checks. Here’s vendor performance and the last six months of vendor-caused delays.
Good answer
We have trusted vendors, and we check certs, but we don’t track queue times tightly, and we don’t have alternates for every process.
Red flag
We send it out and hope it comes back on time. The vendor handles quality.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg lets you share vendor lists, certifications, and routing maps securely after buyers sign NDAs through the platform.
Which customers require formal quality gates (first articles, capability requirements), and what triggers requalification?
Important
Approvals

What buyers determine

Buyers are sizing up how hard it is to keep and expand work without triggering re-approval. Some OEMs treat a machine move, a process change, a vendor change, or even an ownership change as a reason to requalify. If your growth plan assumes buying a new machine or moving part families between cells, approval timelines can quietly slow down revenue.

How to prepare

  • List customers and programs with formal approval gates and what your first-article package includes
  • Document common requalification triggers based on customer history and how long they usually take
  • Show how revisions are controlled so shifts are not running different inspection plans
  • Prepare examples of past re-approvals with timelines and who signed off
Great answer
Customer B and Customer C require formal first-article approval for new part numbers and require re-approval if we move work between certain machines. Inspection plans and revisions live in one controlled location. Here are two recent re-approvals that took three to four weeks, including the full packages. We account for that timing in capacity and growth planning.
Good answer
Some customers require first articles and extra paperwork, but we haven’t documented requalification triggers and timelines consistently.
Red flag
Approvals aren’t a big deal. We can move parts wherever we want, and customers won’t care.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg’s controlled document sharing helps you disclose customer approval requirements in stages, without blasting sensitive packages to every buyer.
Who can set up, program, inspect, and ship—without the go-to person stepping in?
Important
Owner Dependence

What buyers determine

Buyers want to know the shop can keep hitting tolerances and ship dates after the seller steps back. Many shops have one programmer, one setup lead, or one inspector who fixes the hard problems. That can be workable if knowledge is written down and there is real coverage by shift, but buyers discount it when everything lives in one person’s head.

How to prepare

  • Map quoting, programming, setup, inspection, shipping, and customer communication to named owners and backups
  • Turn tribal knowledge into setup sheets, CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) templates, inspection plans, and customer-specific notes
  • Build a retention plan for key people and document comp, tenure, and the training pipeline
  • Write a 90-day transition plan for customer handoffs and internal handoffs
Great answer
Programming is led by Alex, and two people can post and edit programs for our main controls. Inspection is covered because inspection plans are standardized, and two people can run the CMM routines. Here’s our skills matrix by shift, plus the retention plan we’ve already reviewed with the key leads.
Good answer
We have a couple of key people, and we’re training backups, but some customer expectations and programming habits still live in their heads.
Red flag
Everyone comes to me or one guy when there’s a problem. That’s how it works in a shop.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg’s deal workspace keeps buyer Q&A, scheduling, and transition tasks organized so key-person risk does not turn into constant ad hoc calls.
How fast is quoting, and what keeps you from quoting the bad jobs?
Good to have
Growth Engine

What buyers determine

Buyers want a repeatable way to win profitable work, especially in job shops and engineered-to-order environments. Fast quoting can help win rate, but disciplined quoting protects margin six months later when reality hits the floor. They look for evidence you price risk on purpose and that you update quoting assumptions after misses.

How to prepare

  • Document your quoting workflow, who touches it, what inputs you use, and typical turnaround time
  • Show RFQ volume and hit rate trends, split between repeat work and new part numbers
  • Write guardrails for risky work and show how you price it
  • Bring 1–2 examples of declined work and why, plus a few where you re-priced after learning
Great answer
Most quotes go out in 48–72 hours because we reuse history, run-rate standards, and standard routings. We track hit rate by customer, and we add a risk buffer for new materials, tight tolerances, or heavy outside processing. Here are two jobs we declined because the risk was not priced fairly, plus one where we re-priced after a first-run miss.
Good answer
We quote quickly, and we know which jobs become headaches, but we don’t track hit rate or quote-to-actual learning in a structured way.
Red flag
We quote everything and try to win it. Pricing is mostly gut feel, and we’ll fix it on the floor.
How Rejigg helps:Rejigg connects you with pre-vetted buyers who understand machine shop quoting and capacity constraints, so early calls stay practical.

Straight from buyer evaluations

“The margins on reconditioning and repair work were above 70 percent, and the team had the quoting process down to a science. That repair revenue alongside new tool sales creates a cycle that keeps customers coming back.”
Repair RevenueBuyer impressed by repair margins at a precision machining company
“They had employees with 35-plus years on the floor, machinists who rebuilt machines themselves when an outside crew couldn't get it right. That kind of deep, hands-on expertise is something you can't just hire for.”
Deep ExpertiseBuyer reviewing workforce experience at a specialty tooling manufacturer
“What stood out was the mix of industries they served. Automotive, aerospace, and defense contracts all under one roof. That spread means the business stays strong even if one industry pulls back for a while.”
Industry DiversityBuyer analyzing how work is spread across industries
“Revenue doubled in the last two years because overseas suppliers couldn't deliver on time. This shop stepped in with faster turnarounds and better quality. That trend of work coming back to U.S. manufacturers isn't slowing down.”
Growing DemandBuyer evaluating a manufacturer benefiting from work coming back to the U.S.
“They've never had a salesperson in nearly 80 years. All the business comes from engineer-to-engineer referrals and being on approved vendor lists. When your reputation brings the work to you, customers don't leave easily.”
Reputation Built Over DecadesBuyer reviewing how a precision component manufacturer gets its customers

How buyers value this type of business

Where you land in that range depends on how spread out your customers are, what shape your equipment is in, and whether the shop runs smoothly without you on the floor every day.

3x–8x
annual profit
Depending on customer mix, equipment, and how much runs without you

What drives a premium

  • Customers across different industries
    Serving automotive, aerospace, defense, and industrial customers means a slowdown in one area doesn't hurt the whole business.
  • Certifications that took years to earn
    Quality certifications like ISO or AS9100 lock in customer relationships because they take significant time and effort to obtain.
  • Special capabilities you do in-house
    Bringing heat treatment, coating, or precision grinding in-house shortens lead times and protects margins that outsourcing would eat into.
  • Experienced machinists who've been around for years
    Skilled operators with decades of experience signal a stable workforce buyers don't need to rebuild.

Common add-backs

Your salary above what you'd pay a general managerPersonal vehicles and travel run through the shop's booksRent above market rate on a facility you own personallyOne-time equipment repairs or rebuilds that won't happen every year

What the process looks like

5–8 months from listing to closemedian 201 days across closed deals
  1. 1
    Listing
    The day your business goes live on Rejigg.
  2. 2
    First messageMedian: 4 days later
    A buyer requests a conversation by sending a first pitch.
  3. 3
    First callMedian: 7 days later
    Your first completed call with a buyer to answer questions about your business.
  4. 4
    Letter of intentMedian: 59 days later
    A buyer submits an LOI and you choose to accept, decline, or negotiate.
  5. 5
    Deal closeMedian: 89 days later
    Assuming all is well in due diligence, you close the deal.
See the data behind this timeline in the 2026 Insight Report
Typical buyer types
Companies building regional precision machining and tooling businesses through purchasesOther machine shops looking to add capacity, certifications, or new capabilities like grinding or broachingFirst-time buyers with engineering or operations backgrounds drawn to high-margin manufacturingCompanies from related fields like aerospace repair, defense contracting, or industrial distribution

Common questions about selling a Machinery Manufacturing business

Most machinery manufacturing businesses sell for a multiple of the cash the owner can take out each year, after adding back one-time and personal expenses. The multiple usually improves when job costing is consistent, repeat work is meaningful, backlog is provable, and the shop is not one breakdown away from late shipments. Start with Rejigg’s <a href="/valuation" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">free valuation calculator</a>, then pressure-test customer concentration, quality approvals, and near-term equipment spend.
No. Brokers typically charge 5–10% of the sale price for work you can run yourself with the right tools and a clean process. Rejigg gives you what brokers usually control: access to pre-vetted buyers, digital NDAs, a secure data room, and a dashboard to track conversations and compare offers. Start with the <a href="/owners/owners-guide/prepare-to-sell-your-business" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">prepare-to-sell guide</a>, then run the sale directly.
Many buyers use SBA 7(a) loans to buy profitable machine shops, but lenders are picky about clean cash flow and clean records. Expect questions on customer concentration, job margins, and whether the business relies on the seller to quote, program, and keep customers calm. Lenders also look closely at equipment condition and inventory, since surprises there can crush cash after closing. Rejigg’s <a href="/sba-calculator" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">SBA loan calculator</a> helps model payments so you can see what price and terms a buyer can realistically carry.
Most machinery manufacturing sales take about 4–9 months from listing to close, assuming the shop can answer diligence questions quickly. Deals drag when buyers discover messy work-in-process, unclear backlog, undocumented quality requirements, or surprise capital spending. If you can show quote-to-actual job history, backlog by release status, and a clean inventory breakdown, financing and diligence usually move faster. Rejigg keeps diligence in one place with a secure data room and tracked requests. Timeline details are in the <a href="/owners/owners-guide/due-diligence-and-closing" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">due diligence and closing</a> guide.
Most buyers ask for three years of profit and loss statements, year-end balance sheets, and recent monthly results. They will also want support for owner add-backs like personal insurance, owner vehicles, and one-time repairs that will not repeat. In a machine shop, expect follow-up requests that tie margin to the floor: job-level labor hours, material, scrap, and outside processing. If you use QuickBooks, Rejigg’s <a href="/owners/owners-guide/prepare-to-sell-your-business" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">prep guidance</a> pairs well with QuickBooks integration to load financials into a structured data room.
Most buyers value a machine shop based on cash flow, not by adding up the resale value of each CNC. Equipment still matters because it drives capability and risk: constraint machines, control obsolescence, maintenance history, and replacement lead times that can be 6–18 months for certain builds. Keep a current equipment list with year, control, major options, and rebuild history. Put photos and service invoices in a secure data room so buyers do not assume the worst when records are hard to find.
A working capital adjustment is the true-up at closing to make sure the business hands over a normal amount of cash tied up in receivables, payables, and inventory. In machinery manufacturing, it gets messy because work-in-process swings, material gets purchased ahead of releases, and outside processing can inflate WIP at month-end. Most of the time, the clean approach is agreeing on a target based on historical averages, then settling the difference at close. Use <a href="/owners/owners-guide/negotiate-a-deal" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">negotiation guidance</a> and keep the backup in Rejigg’s data room.
Earnouts are seller payments tied to future results, and they show up when project revenue is lumpy or the buyer is worried about execution after close. For custom machinery builders, earnouts tend to work better when they are tied to objective events like factory acceptance, shipment, or paid invoices. If warranty work is common, define how warranty costs are treated so the earnout does not get argued later. Rejigg’s offer comparison dashboard helps you line up earnout language side-by-side so you can see where the risk really sits.
Buyers usually ask for your top customers with revenue by year, plus the documents that explain how work actually gets released and approved. That can include purchase order frameworks, release schedules, and customer-specific quality requirements that drive first articles or requalification. On suppliers, expect diligence on key material sources and outside processors, lead times, cert handling, and alternate sourcing. Keep real examples, not summaries, ready to share. Rejigg’s NDA gating and data room permissions let you stage sensitive customer documents as a buyer gets more serious.
Customer concentration is not automatically a deal killer, but it changes the questions buyers ask. They want to know if the work is tied to a single program that can pause, whether you will stay on the approved supplier list after a sale, and whether relationships exist beyond the owner. If one OEM is 40% of revenue, buyers look for proof in releases, on-time delivery, quality history, and multi-threaded contacts. Rejigg’s direct buyer messaging helps you pressure-test the concentration story early, before you grant exclusivity.
A non-compete is the seller agreeing not to start or join a competing shop for a certain time and within a certain area after closing. Buyers push for it because customers and employees can follow the seller quickly, especially when the shop’s value is tied to specialized know-how and relationships. What is “typical” varies by geography and deal size, but it usually needs to be long enough for the buyer to stabilize customers and retain key people. Use <a href="/owners/owners-guide/negotiate-a-deal" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">Rejigg’s negotiation guide</a> to frame scope, and keep drafts organized in the deal workspace.
Confidentiality matters in machine shops because rumors can trigger second-sourcing and key people leaving. A staged approach works best: start with a blind profile, require an NDA before naming the company, then release customer lists and quality packages only when the buyer is credible and engaged. Rejigg supports this flow because buyers are pre-vetted, NDAs are signed digitally, and you control document permissions in the data room. Build trust in steps. See <a href="/owners/owners-guide/find-your-dream-buyer" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">finding buyers</a> for the process.
Taxes depend on whether the deal is structured as an asset sale or an equity sale, and how the price gets allocated across equipment, inventory, and goodwill. For machinery-heavy businesses, depreciation history can make the equipment allocation matter a lot. Inventory treatment can swing the outcome, too, especially if you carry high raw material or WIP. Model scenarios early with your CPA so you do not accept a “good” price that disappoints after taxes. Rejigg helps by keeping offer terms and draft allocations organized so your tax advisor can review cleanly.
Give buyers an equipment list that explains risk, not just a headcount of machines. Include machine type, year, control, major options, what it runs, and major rebuilds or recurring problems. Buyers also look for a maintenance culture: who owns PM, what gets logged, and whether constraint machines get special attention. If maintenance lives in someone’s notebook or memory, capture it now. Upload the list and key records to Rejigg’s secure data room and clearly label the true bottleneck assets.
Many buyers expect a structured transition, often heavier for the first 30–60 days, then lighter support for a few months. The timeline depends on what the owner personally handles today, especially quoting, programming decisions, and key customer relationships. A written plan usually reduces buyer anxiety and can improve terms. Rejigg helps you put the transition plan in writing, track handoff tasks, and keep communications clean in the deal workspace. Details are in <a href="/owners/owners-guide/transitioning-after-the-sale" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">transition planning</a>.
Real estate matters in machinery manufacturing because the building can limit what the shop can run. Buyers look at ceiling height, cranes, power, air, floor loading, coolant and waste handling, and whether the layout supports flow and inspection needs. If you are leasing to the buyer, the lease needs to allow equipment moves and upgrades without a fight. If you are selling the building, expect diligence on deferred maintenance that can disrupt production, like compressors, chip handling, and HVAC for the quality room. Keep drawings, utility details, and any environmental paperwork ready in a secure data room.
Buyers focus on issues that can shut a shop down or create a big claim. Common diligence items include machine guarding, lockout practices, coolant handling, waste oil storage, and training and inspection records for forklifts and cranes. They will also ask about incident history and what changed afterward, since a managed system matters more than a perfect record. Keep training logs, inspection checklists, and disposal records organized so you can answer quickly. Rejigg’s data room lets you store these and share them selectively after an NDA.
Yes, but messy books usually mean slower diligence and more conservative offers because buyers cannot underwrite cash flow with confidence. The fastest improvements are separating personal expenses from shop costs, documenting add-backs with receipts or notes, and building a simple tie-out between jobs, work-in-process, and shipments. You do not need perfection, but you do need a consistent story that matches the floor. Rejigg’s QuickBooks integration and structured data room help reduce the scramble. Start with <a href="/owners/owners-guide/prepare-to-sell-your-business" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">prepare to sell</a>.
In machinery manufacturing, the headline price can be misleading if one offer is heavy on seller financing, earnouts, or a tough working-capital target. Compare offers by cash at close, the conditions required to get paid later, and the operational assumptions baked into the deal, like backlog shipping, approval timelines, and bottleneck capacity. Ask what happens if a key customer pushes out or a constraint machine goes down during the earnout window. Rejigg’s offer comparison view lays out price, seller financing, earnouts, and timelines side-by-side. See <a href="/owners/owners-guide/negotiate-a-deal" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">negotiate a deal</a>.
Look for buyers who already understand how machine shops really run, including job-cost variance, outside processing risk, approved supplier requirements, and constraint machines. Rejigg is built for that buyer pool. Buyers are pre-vetted, NDAs are handled digitally, and you can run a direct process without paying a broker fee. Share enough specifics to attract the right fit, then use the data room and direct messaging to move fast with serious parties. Start at <a href="/" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">Rejigg</a> or book time at <a href="/owners/schedule-consultation-call" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">schedule a consultation</a>.
Start by pulling together your financials with revenue broken out by product type and customer industry. Make an equipment list with maintenance records, and document your team and certifications. List on <a href="/" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">Rejigg</a> where buyers are actively looking for manufacturing operations. You'll connect directly with buyers and handle the process without a broker.
Most machinery manufacturing businesses sell for 3 to 8 times annual profit. A "multiple" just means the number your yearly earnings get multiplied by to estimate a sale price. Where you land depends on your customer mix, equipment condition, workforce stability, and certifications. Try <a href="/" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">Rejigg</a>'s <a href="/valuation" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">free valuation calculator</a> for a starting estimate.
Four to eight months is typical when your financials and equipment records are organized. Deals take longer when buyers need time to verify customer relationships, inspect equipment on-site, or work through property questions. Clean books, a current equipment list, and a documented transition plan keep things on track.
No. Brokers typically charge 5 to 10 percent of the sale price. <a href="/" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">Rejigg</a> gives you buyer vetting, secure document sharing, and direct messaging so you can handle the process yourself. <a href="/owners/schedule-consultation-call" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">Schedule a free consultation</a> to see how it works for manufacturing sellers.
Buyers want to see that the shop runs without you quoting every job and supervising every cut. They look for experienced machinists who have been around for years, customers spread across different industries, well-maintained equipment, and relevant certifications. Clean financials with a clear picture of what the business earns make the whole process easier.
Condition matters more than age. Buyers care about maintenance history, uptime, and whether critical machines are still supported with parts. A well-maintained 20-year-old CNC with documented service records is worth more than a newer machine with no history. Prepare an equipment list with hours, service logs, and realistic replacement costs before going to market.
Shops with a diverse customer base and no single customer above 15 percent consistently get the best offers. If one customer does make up more than 25 percent of your revenue, you can address it by showing how long that customer has been with you, your on-time delivery track record, and the depth of the relationship across multiple contacts.
In most successful deals, buyers want your skilled operators to stay because they are your capacity and quality. Expect conversations about keeping pay the same, benefits, and retention bonuses for key leads. Having a simple plan listing your key people, their tenure, and what they earn shows the business is ready to transfer. <a href="/owners/schedule-consultation-call" style="color: #1d4d05; font-weight: 600;">Talk to Rejigg</a> about transition planning.

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